Chapter 36

The hypnotic spell had been lifted, and Ryan was no longer bound in any way. Yet, he made no attempt to flee or resist, sitting slumped on the ground in silence.

He understood the disparity in their strength all too well. Even setting aside the giant Gerald standing right before him, he doubted he could have defeated the mage Satan alone—and that was assuming he had been in peak condition.

Now, he was severely wounded, the bones in both his shoulders shattered. If not for the healing potion he had just consumed, the agony alone would have been enough to kill him; how could he possibly have the strength to resist?

Things had reached this point; he had no choice but to accept his fate. There was no way out.

"Ryan, why did you plot against us?" Gerald roared, his voice echoing through the forest like a sudden gale.

"I am dying. To please the Dim Moon (a moniker for the God of Conspiracy) and earn the right to enter His divine kingdom, I devised this ruse, hoping to please His Majesty by deceiving you," Ryan said with brutal honesty. "But I failed, and His Majesty has abandoned me. I am finished. To me, life has lost all meaning. The gates of Purgatory are already open; it is merely a matter of when I fall through them."

Hearing this, the thieves' expressions shifted, and they glared at him with venomous eyes. Had it not been for their fear of Gerald's might, they would have swarmed the old man and hacked him to pieces on the spot.

Because both deities claimed "Illusion" as a primary aspect, the God of Thieves and the God of Conspiracy shared a bitter, mortal rivalry. To the followers of the God of Thieves, Ryan—a devotee of the God of Conspiracy—was not just an enemy, but a despicable traitor.

In the world of certain martial arts novels, a wretch like this would surely have been skewered with three blades and six holes!

Ryan remained indifferent to their murderous glares. He had nowhere left to go; it was death either way, so what was there to fear?

"Heh." Sui Xiong's laughter rang out in the air. "The God of Conspiracy has not abandoned you. On the contrary, your actions have greatly pleased Him."

"What?!" Ryan's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly looked toward the tiny, transparent jellyfish floating in the air. "But why did His Majesty not answer my prayers?"

"Because I intercepted them," Sui Xiong said with a grin. "The messenger He sent was also intercepted by me—and by the way, those 'Four-Faced Monsters' under the God of Conspiracy's command look strange, but they taste surprisingly good. Tender, delicious, and with an endless aftertaste!"

Ryan's body shuddered violently as he realized Sui Xiong's identity. His face drained of all color, and he collapsed in despair, unable to utter a single word.

He had thought himself clever, successfully playing a giant, a minor mage, and a rookie deity like puppets. Only now did he realize his plan hadn't failed; he had simply chosen the wrong target.

The deity behind the giant Gerald was no rookie; He was clearly a reclusive, supreme powerhouse! He had even eaten the divine messenger of the God of Conspiracy—it was impossible to imagine just how powerful He truly was!

To think he had dared to scheme against such a great god; his luck had truly hit rock bottom. Perhaps he had done too many evil deeds in this life, and the Goddess of Fate had bound him with threads invisible to mortals, tethering him directly to Purgatory...

In his absolute despair, he grew calm. With dead, hollow eyes, he looked at Sui Xiong and said woodenly, "Your Majesty, forgive me for not knowing your name. But it matters not. Please, punish me however you wish."

Seeing the man's "grief-stricken, heart-dead" state, Sui Xiong felt a twinge of disappointment. He had wanted to punish a cunning, fox-like old thief, not this husk of a man who was barely clinging to life.

The transparent little jellyfish circled Ryan a few times, studying him carefully, until a spark of inspiration suddenly struck Sui Xiong.

"Since you're volunteering for punishment, don't blame me for being heavy-handed!" He sneered. His soul-energy body, translucent like a jellyfish, twisted and morphed into a massive palm centered with a glowing golden swastika, which he slammed down onto Ryan's forehead.

"The sea of suffering is boundless; a turn of the head is the shore!"

With a thunderous shout, Sui Xiong silently meditated on all the sincerity, kindness, and beauty in the mortal world—visions of prosperity, tireless struggle, and jubilant joy. Countless intentions converged into a golden light, riding the force of that palm strike. It appeared to strike Ryan's forehead, but in reality, it shattered his soul and surged within.

Ryan let out a shrill scream, his body convulsing. The pain of a wounded soul far exceeded that of a physical injury; even in his state of utter hopelessness, he could not endure such agony. For a moment, he wished only for death, preferring the torments of Purgatory to this unbearable suffering.

The surrounding thieves watched their leader's wretched, death-defying struggle, terrified out of their wits. A clattering sound followed as several of the less courageous ones wet themselves in fear, the stench of urine filling the air and making the situation even more unbearable.

Fortunately, they had brought plenty of supplies for their treasure hunt. They found clean trousers for the cowards, tossed the soiled ones far away, and Satan cast a spell to summon a strong wind that swept the odor away, finally sparing everyone's noses.

Strangely, after only a short while, the once-screaming Ryan grew calm. His eyes were vacant, staring blankly at the sky as if lost in thought.

"Ryan, have you awakened?" Sui Xiong's avatar shifted back into its jellyfish form and asked loudly.

Startled by the shout, Ryan sat up, remained silent for a long time, and then suddenly burst into loud, wailing sobs.

He wept with such heart-rending, soul-shattering, and mournful intensity that it felt as if the very clouds were weeping with him... No, forget that—the tone was all wrong, Sui Xiong thought silently.

After crying for a long time, Ryan finally stopped. With his shoulders injured, he couldn't lift his arms to wipe his face, leaving streaks of tears and dirt that made him look utterly disheveled.

Yet, his eyes were incredibly clear—a look his subordinates had never seen in all these years. Calm, gentle, like a pool of clear water without a trace of shadow, making one want to draw near without a hint of suspicion.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for awakening me. I have nothing left to fear now," Ryan said calmly. "I have committed countless evils in my life and deserve to go to hell to atone. Even if I must endure every torment in Purgatory, it is nothing compared to the suffering I have inflicted upon others."

"To repent only when death is at the door is truly too late. But to be able to repent at the very end is better than dying unrepentant." He stood up with effort, looking around at his subordinates with a face full of remorse.

"Over the years, I have done many things to wrong you. I used you to commit evil, swallowed the lion's share of your hard-earned gains, and blocked your paths to advancement time and again... I apologize to you, though I dare not hope for your forgiveness."

With that, he sighed deeply and looked up at the sky.

"I remember when I was a child, I would often lie on my roof and watch the sky. Back then, I always wondered what it was like up there. Legend says Heaven is in the sky, where kind people go to live in peace within the beautiful kingdom created by the benevolent gods... What is Heaven like? I truly wish to see it..."

His voice faded, and his body slumped softly to the ground, his breath gone forever.

He was dead.

In Sui Xiong's eyes, as the life faded from Ryan's body, a transparent, aged figure emerged. The figure looked melancholicly at his own corpse, shook his head, and sighed. He bowed to Sui Xiong before slowly sinking toward the ground, seemingly destined for the Underworld to face judgment.

Just then, a clear light, invisible to mortals, descended from the sky and landed on Ryan's soul.

Within the white light, an old man appeared, wearing a simple gray cloak and a silver-inlaid headband, smiling as he held a pipe. He placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"The Lord of Repentance has said that no matter how many sins one commits in life, as long as one can repent sincerely, one deserves redemption," the old man told Ryan. "You should not go to hell; instead, you must transform your heart of repentance into acts of atonement and help those in need."

Ryan was stunned, taking a moment to collect himself before asking in disbelief, "Are... are you a messenger of the Lord of Redemption? I have never worshipped that deity..."

"Our Lord does not decide who enters His kingdom based on faith alone. Only those souls who redeem themselves and others are qualified to enter the Valley of Relief. You redeemed yourself in the final moments of your life, so the Lord sent me to welcome you," the old man said kindly. "Come with me; your journey is still long."

Overjoyed and moved to tears, Ryan bowed deeply to Sui Xiong once more before following the old man, riding the clear light as they ascended into the sky.

Sui Xiong watched him depart with a faint smile. Just as he was about to offer some profound reflection like "The past is dead, and the future is born anew," his heart stirred.

The giant jellyfish floating in the air turned its head and bowed slightly to the plainly dressed woman who had appeared beside him, as a gesture of courtesy.

"Greetings, Goddess of Redemption."

"Greetings, kind new god." The woman appeared to be in her mid-twenties. She was not strikingly beautiful, but she was gentle and approachable, her eyes radiating a soft light that put people at ease. She was the avatar of the Goddess of Redemption. Sensing that someone had used a peculiar method to bring a sinful soul to repentance in its final moments, she had become deeply interested and come to the mortal realm to meet Sui Xiong.

The God of Redemption, also known as the Lord of Repentance, the Listener of Last Words, and so on, was not a powerful deity. His doctrine required believers to redeem both themselves and others, a task that was truly difficult to achieve. Consequently, his faith had never spread very widely; even among his own priests, many found it hard to put his teachings into practice. Those who truly could practice his doctrine were often already at death's door, making it unlikely they would be able to spread his faith or glorify his name further.

For a long time, this senior figure, who held a very old standing among the gods, had been in an awkward position. He firmly believed he was correct, yet he was distressed over how to promote his philosophy. It was not until this moment, meeting Sui Xiong, that an epiphany finally rose in his heart, making him feel as though he had glimpsed the trajectory of fate.

The God of Redemption, appearing in the guise of the "Listener of Last Words," raised his hand. A cluster of soft white light flew out, landing on Sui Xiong, where it was quickly absorbed and stored, waiting to be slowly analyzed and studied later.

"This is my divine power, along with some useful intelligence. You may study it at your leisure. I look forward to seeing you soon at the Union of the Supreme Good, and I believe that by then, we will certainly be able to engage in beneficial cooperation."

"Apologies, but I haven't found a clue toward godhood just yet," Sui Xiong said.

The gentle deity waved his hand, his figure gradually fading away. "That does not matter. Time holds little meaning for you and me; I have already waited a long time. Knowing now that my waiting was not in vain is enough to satisfy me."

Watching the God of Redemption depart, Sui Xiong carefully contemplated the cluster of divine power he had received, engraving the vast amount of data contained within into his mind. A faint epiphany stirred within him; the path leading to the divine altar had finally revealed a glimmer of light amidst the chaos.